


Broken Wings Soar Higher

by LokiDoki720



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Basically an Au where everyone is a beast/monster, Childhood Trauma, Disability, Emira is fegucking huge, F/F, Medical Trauma, Monsterbeast Au, Viney is a smol four winged griffon bby uwu, and deadly, btw this Au is pretty battle-centered so be prepared for minor/major gore, don't worry about those tags, its just part of backstory
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:27:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27494209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LokiDoki720/pseuds/LokiDoki720
Summary: In a broken, battle-centered society of beasts and monsters, Viney struggles with her own inability to fly. Should this new stranger she lets into her life solve her worries and fix her broken hope?
Relationships: Emira Blight/Viney
Comments: 5
Kudos: 27





	1. The Kestrel and The Hyena

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kagzura](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kagzura/gifts).



> Hello everyone! So I've had this idea in the back of my head for a while, as it first started out as small concept sketches. I couldn't really focus on my other fics cause of this AU so here we are with a lil ship story from this AU of mine! Enjoy ^^
> 
> Btw everyone in this au is anthro, I describe Viney as a griffin because she's half cat half bird.

It's not everyday you're told you can't fly ever again. That your wing was broken beyond repair and won't ever heal the same again. That you'll have to ignore the basic, primal want of flight because a bully thought you were small, that you were helpless, and you would never put up a better fight than them. 

Viney was only a kitling when it happen, probably no more than five years old. She'd just learned to fly, the first among her clutch to. The amount of pride she felt when the other kitlings told her that they were impressed, that they wanted to do what she had just achieved, only for it to be ruined by a dare and a person who decided she didn't deserve praise, or to be told she was special and strong, but only to be pitied and laughed at. 

_Holding open her wings, Viney glided against the geyser, the powerful force of the wind and air vapor clashed her body with dry and wet, as she was being dried while being constantly bombarded with water droplets. It was a strange sensation. Viney looked behind her, catching a glimpse of her smaller second wings, and the feathers on her tail being forced up do to the winds. To anyone, she was simply floating in place, but to her, she was trying her best to keep from flapping her wings and sending her soaring, even though every instinct was telling her too, as the hot, boiling water was mere seconds away from pounding her underbellly. Behind her, she spotted two winged older kitlings, also griffins judging from their cat counterparts, one of them more eagle-faced than their counterpart, who appeared more kestrel, like Viney. Viney wondered for a moment if they held the same dusty colored as her cougar side, but all she could see through the mist was their face hurriedly rushing towards her in a panic._

_"Hang on!" The eagle kitling said, raising his wings "We'll get you out, Viney!" He called loudly, strangely loud enough to cut the noise of the chamber itself. However, the reared back immediately, hopping out of the geyser with alarmed faces, then turning to look at Viney in fear. She knew what that had meant before they could even say anything. That hot water? The water that could burn the flesh right off her bones? It was rearing its nasty, steamy head and priming to attack._

_And the worst part? Viney doesn't know how to fly properly, she only knew the basics, which was gliding and flapping to get herself into the air, but travelling above the breaking-bones-and-living point and simply flying back down? Only adults could manage that because they don't pass out after that point, and even if she were to wake up before hitting the ground, there was no way she could rear back in time to gain control. To her right now, it was either become a pile of steamed griffin meat or become a pile of blood and broken bones. Neither option she really wanted to take a chance with._

_The geyser below her rumbled with anticipation, making the sinking feeling in Viney's stomach sink further, it was about ready to blow. So, in a split-second decision to possibly save her life, she chose the latter. Quickly waving her arms, she flailed desperately to the wall of steam, as she was being dragged up towards the sky. She tried closing her wings, but if she even tried to force it further than they would go, she wouldn't have wings after this. She continued to swim towards the wall of vapor as she was dragged, a little slower now, upwards. Dread was building in her chest and stomach and she continued to drag herself forward with all the strength she had in her body. Then the boiling beast below her striked._

_The force was so immense it knocked Viney straight out of the geyser, sending her flying at a high speed and at a diagonal angle, heading straight for the loose, barren dirt and gravel. Panicking, she opened her wings to let the air grip her, and hopefully save her from breaking her beak off. Luckily, it did, quickly jerking her backwards and immediately slowing her fall. She landed on the ground with a small thud, breathing in shuddering breaths. Then she felt a jolting pain searing into her wing. She looked over and saw that her wing had snagged itself between a couple of rocks, despite her slowing she still had travelled fast enough to not notice, she merely slowed herself so the most damage she would take was multiple scraps and bruises across her arms and legs, maybe her face. Which she did have._

_Her wing was bent awkwardly, bending backwards and into itself. There was no doubt that it was broken. As the pain started to overwhelm her, the last thing she heard before blacking out was the cries of worried kitlings and the laughter of the person who had dared her to get into the geyser in the first place._

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Viney held her book to her chest, switching out the rest in her locker, preparing for her next period. It had been eleven years since the geyser incident but she couldn't help but still fell vindictive towards the bully who'd dared her into it, using her pride against her. She gripped one of her books so hard, her talons accidentally ripped through the navy blue fabric that made up the cover of the book. 

_'Guess this is why pride is one of the seven sins in that human religion, huh?'_ She slid her now ripped book into her satchel bag perched on her hip, her ear flicked as she remembered the human infobook she had come across in the library once, most of it seemed like chicken brained nonsense, but she couldn't argue. She's never met a human before. She turned on her paw and started to pace down the hall, letting some of her thoughts consume her. Like what was she going to learn about today, what creature would she be taming today, what the heck is that battle-beast doing? She quickly stopped walking and looked over to where a battle-beast, adorning jade green fur, witch a splash of malachite covering her back, and a large, green scorpion tail attached to their head and just barely scraping the floor, was raising slowly in agitation. The beast came off predominantly as hyena-esque with large, saber-like fangs, and glaring slitted amber eyes. She would've been beautiful if not for the fact she looked about ready to rip the beast in front of her to shreds, who was equally in her face. 

_'A battle-beast...A Blight.'_ She had heard that the family were large, they were intimidating, but she had never seen one in the halls before. Staring at the hyena beast, she found herself enraptured by the rippling muscles beneath the shiny green fur. The longer she stared at her, the more she felt herself enraptured by the beauty of her neatly groomed fur and clothes. There was no doubt she was rich, on an upper-class standing, both literally and figuratively. She practically could tower most of the school with how tall she was, in fact she was a good foot ahead of the beast she was currently snarling at. Then she saw her amber eyes flit to the left and lock with Viney, she lifted her head slightly to stare back, and Viney got a view of a small tuft of light peach fur on her neck.

To her complete shock, the Blight beast shot her wink, confirming that she had caught Viney staring. Viney felt her face heat up, and she quickly turned away, her wings fluttering up in flustered shock and revealing the long, pinkish scar on her second wing. The Blight beast stared at it as she walked away, completely forgetting about the beast in front of her that had insulted her.

The little griffin had caught her curiosity, and she was determined to ease it. 


	2. Faded Scars

Viney ran a talon over the stone table, making an interesting noise as she did. It wasn't the usual scratchy noise or something that sends shivers down her spine, it was small, and slightly enjoyable to hear. She gazed down to where her talon was scratching and noticed she accidently chipped away the stony grey outer shell to reveal a soft, dusty off-white inside. She was currently piling dust on the sides of the scratch. She pulled her talon away, staring down at the small scratch she'd made. She frowned at it, blowing the stone dust away, and placed a book over it to cover the fact it had existed at all.

The teacher trotted in, his long braided silver-blue hair flitting side to side like a tail, huffing and snorting madly, blowing his nose ring up as he did. He hunched over and held himself up on his bent knees His long, worn, yellowed horns were daring to cut the face of a student in front of him. His horns curled forward, so the way he was hunched over, the way he was huffing madly and the fact he was a minotaur, put the bigger beasts in the room on edge. After all, Mr. Revilli doubled as the Beastkeeping Track's wrangler of restless creatures. His yellow eyes darted over students then moved to focus on the ground, rubbing his silver muzzle. Mr. Revilli was an old minotaur, his once blue fur was patched with silver streams of fur with his growing age, however despite that fact he was well built. He still looked like he could knock down a building if he so pleased, even his horns never looked sharper. 

That's probably the reason why the other battle-beasts in the room were on edge. He could rip them all to shreds if one of them so dared to challenge him to combat. Viney enjoyed his energy, one of the typical 'strong man but huge puppy dog' types. You know the type, built like a stone wall but softer than wet concrete. He was practically a father to the weaker beasts, always offering to help them grow stronger, to learn how to fight better or soar higher even when he didn't have wings. 

Mr. Revilli opened his doors to Viney early on, accepted her, scars and all, and eventually became a sort of paternal figure to her. He offered to train her once, when she still had her tail, to learn clawing techniques with her stone-cutting talons but...She told him that she would think on it, and would get back to him, but she never did because of a certain incident that caused her to loose her tail. 

She regretted not saying yes immediately, maybe it would have saved her trouble. Possibly her tail, too. 

However, Viney knew better of him. He was actually surprisingly gentle for a giant bull-man, he was only ever rough when he needed to be...But battle-beasts don't know the difference between tired and poised to strike, sometimes. She picked up her pencil and rolled it between her talons quietly as Mr. Revilli slowly brought himself back up, grabbing onto his wooden desk. Viney grabbed her notebook and opened it, looking up just in time to see Mr. Revilli writing down the lesson plan for that day. The chalk scraped against the board, small white particles of dust fell on the ground like snowflakes. The noise was surprisingly pleasant to her, and watching the small dust landing on the floor softly relaxed her restless mind. 

She always liked listening to the teachers talk, bringing her mind away from her own problems and facing the situations in front of her. No one judged her here if she quietly did her work, no one judged her here if she simply listened. Mr. Revilli placed his chalk down, wiping the dust from his hooves as he turned to face the class. He tapped the board behind him in quick succession, reading aloud what he'd just written;

"Today we'll be learning battle strategies. It's close to Ironclaw Season, and some of you will be chosen to fight for the Emporer," He paused and looked around the room to emphasize his point, folding his arms behind his back "...And some of you will stay behind and further your education." He locked eyed with Viney and flicked his ear thoughtfully. She knew what he meant when he said that, he didn't mean any malice behind it, but it still hurt that even her closest friend didn't believe she was capable of fighting anything bigger than a bear cub. She furrowed her brow and turned to her notebook, page empty. She just didn't want to look at him at the moment. She brought her talon up to mess with a spike on her hairband while Mr. Revilli continued, albeit with a barely noticeable guilty tone.

"As you all know, Ironclaw Season is very important for our society. Can anyone tell me why?" He waited patiently for someone to raise their hand. Eventually, a white snake-like beast with long front fangs, off-white ram-like horns and a purple feather mohawk than ran down the majority of her body, raised the tip of her tail to answer. Viney didn't listen to her answer as she knew what she was saying.

Ironclaw Season is a three month long event where students and adult battle-beast and beasts in general duke it out in the Emperor's Arena. The beasts are specially chosen by the heads of each covens to represent them in the ring, and the especially lucky few who are hand selected by Lilith, the head of the Emperor's Coven. The reason behind the battle season is to see which beasts are strong enough to continue the work of the emperor in his Coven. Warden Wrath was chosen this way and pretty much all of the emperor's guards was too. Viney thought it was stupid, as some beasts were cripple for life sometimes, others even died in the ring when the other opponent didn't know when to stop, and for what? A job that even a kitling could do? No one opposes the emperor, unless they want to be bombarded by an army. She huffed, flattening her ears in annoyance while some battle-beasts in the room started showing off, boasting how they would be chosen by the head and then literally butting heads with someone who would laugh in their face at the statement.

Viney flattened her ears further, feeling the cold steel of her fishhook earring brush against the feathers on her neck. She shifted in her seat and laid her head down as Mr. Revilli forcefully pulled apart two students who were just about to start scratching each others eyes out. She rubbed her brow tentatively, looking out the window. She let the noises of the arguing students and teacher drown away her thoughts as she blankly stared forward into the courtyard, where some beasts were practicing and battling, using spells aplenty. 

Among the smoke of the the now burned courtyard, she saw the familiar shape and color of a malachite green battle-beast.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Viney shuffled out of the way of two other griffins, the two she recognized as the ones who tried to save her from the geyser. Her ears flicked as thoughts immediately started to pummel her mind, undesirable thoughts.

She forced herself to shut the thoughts up and moved away. It had been only an hour after she left school and returned to her shelter. 

She was grateful for the giant underground dirt and mud caves that housed many orphaned beasts. She would often find herself in the nursery, helping out the newest kitlings who'd been freshly orphaned. Sometimes there were babies and eggs. Viney felt a pang of disappointment and sadness, the world she lived in really did sometimes force kids out of their childhood. She ran her talons gingerly along the dried mud wall, accidently chipping off a chip or two here and there. The caves themselves didn't look like much, just a series of dirt caves in a long, winding hallway shaped by dried mud walls and lit by torches that lined the walls in a symmetrical pattern. Two larger caves marked the very back end of the hallway, one had a torn blue flag on the left side of the entrance and multiple holes in the ceiling to allow light to spill onto nests holding eggs. The nursery was the most decorated of the caves, despite most of them practically serving as homes for other beasts, torn furniture scattered here and there, some old and dusty paintings and worn cots and blankets in the corners for the more older kitling bunches. 

The second cave acted more as a cafeteria or a general hangout spot. There weren't any tables, just blankets and pillows on the ground and a couple of sunlight holes in the ceiling. Some beasts, who've since moved out, moved a rather nice firepit into the middle of the cave to cook soups and other foods for the kitlings and grown beasts. Viney huffed and stopped in front of a cave hole, peering into it. A small cot and pillow was perched in the corner and in the other was shelves, dug out of the dirt and filled to the brim with glinting potion bottles, books, and papers.

Viney smiled at it, it was Barcus's room. He was a rather small beast, but it was to be expected for him. He wasn't more than a doggish, sabertoothed underling, but he was tougher than most beasts in the caves despite the fact he was smaller than most kitlings. Underlings are notorious runt beasts, and Barcus decided to make his own future than accept he would never be strong. Viney wished she had that type of motivation. 

A sudden puff of green smoke caught her attention and she leaned in, looking in the corner and seeing Barcus huddled over a cauldron. He was stirring it while reading something from his notes. Despite the dim light from the brew, the room was still hauntingly dark compared to the rest of the lit caves. She leaned against the side of the cave opening, clearing her throat and making the underling look up. He let out a friendly whine and waved, which she returned. She motioned over to his unlit torch in the corner and he shrugged, indifferent to it being lit or not. She quickly threw a small fire ball at it and lit it gracefully, moving further into the den. 

She placed herself on the cot while Barcus continued to work, rubbing the under of his nose after some red dust he was previously holding floated a little towards him. He let out a small sneeze and shook his head, then looked over at Viney and smiling. He barked rapidly, motioning to his shelf. Viney couldn't understand his language like Jerbo could, but she could understand simple things like "Can you get that for me?" or "Stir this for me for a second" and so on. She moved over to the shelf, holding up a small vial filled with a lavender colored liquid. Barcus nodded and opened his paw to take it. Viney placed the vial in his paws and ripped the cork from it, pouring the contents of the vial into the brew below him. 

Viney ducked a little, waiting for an explosion but only being met with a small, calm hiss and the shift from a bright green to a calming sky blue. Barcus started to pour the potion into empty vials when he was interrupted by Jerbo suddenly bursting into the came, panting like a mad man. You'd think a fire breathing, dragon tailed rabbit would learn to not overdo it with running because his body because extremely hot due to the extra oxygen. The heat radiating off his body disturbed the brew beside him, and the once blue brew started to shift into a sickly mustard yellow color. Barcus started to yip in alarm, trying to get Jerbo to move away but accidentally burned his paw against his hot-coal of a body. 

Viney laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation and hopped off the cot, ushering Jerbo out of the cave while Barcus fixed his over-cooked brew. Jerbo apologized quickly but started to fumble with his satchel restlessly. Viney stared at him for a moment before chirping "What's the rush?" Jerbo looked at her then shoved a letter towards her "The clutch leader just received this, it's for you." He pushed the letter impatiently forward and Viney took it, then looked down at it. Her eyes went wide at the royal blue wax seal on it, and the small golden embroidered sides. There was no way that this was happening right now.

She cut the seal and opened it with shaky hands. She pulled out a very neatly folded piece of paper inside, and opened it, reading its brief contents. She had been chosen to represent the Healing Coven during Ironclaw Season. Her hand shook and she dropped the letter in utter shock. Memories started to overwhelm her head uncomfortably, and she swallowed hard. She reached her talon out to rub the tender spot on her scarred wing nervously. Jerbo, reached out a paw to offer comfort but she simply turned away. She just needed to be alone for a while. 

Viney sat on her cot, staring at the dirt ceiling above her. This had to be some sort of joke right? Some sort of cruel joke being played on her? They had chosen her? It was a lot to take in, and while a part of her was overwhelming ecstatic that the leader of the Healing Coven thought she was strong enough to be in the ring, the other was angry at the audacity of them. She would've had a better chance when she could fly and had her tail, two very important things about her that would've made her agile in battle. There wasn't a night she didn't lay awake at night, daydreaming about having her wings and tail restored to their old glory and using them in combat. 

Having a long tail a would've help her balance and speed, and her wings? The amount surprises and pounces she could put on her opponents, she knew the strength of her claws and her bite, and while she wouldn't deter any beast bigger than her while a gash across the stomach, she knew the sharpness of her talon could blind the biggest battle-beasts if she could manage to get on their shoulders, and probably manage to swipe off any spines or horns that they may have. However, like she said, getting a gash across the stomach of her opponent wouldn't really deter them until after a couple minutes because of blood loss, but she knew in those few minutes she wouldn't be able to avoid their snapping jaws, or claws, long enough for that blood loss to settle in. 

She bounced her leg up and down, thinking about the ways she'd be torn to shreds. She didn't understand it. Why wasn't she excited? Why was she planning ways to defeat her opponents? Why didn't she feel like proving that she was stronger than anyone thought? Why was she scared? Why did she feel so helpless and...Weak?

Her thoughts stung her like a bee, and she didn't want to dwell any further on the subject, besides she could just not show up to the battles. Like she had done for the other seasons. Except she wasn't a spectator this time, she was a brawler. She knew that beasts would walk out if they didn't want to battle, or surrender early but soon after those beasts would be shunned, called lowlifes and cowards, practically outcast from society, and that's why even the weakest of beasts chosen by the coven heads force themselves into an almost death wish. 

Viney already was a social outcast, so it really didn't matter to her, but thinking about the names she would be called made her a little uneasy. She shuffled backwards and pressed her back against the mud stone wall. She really needed to get some sleep before more anxiety settled in and she'd be throwing up yesterday's dinner and shaking like a cold dog. She quietly berated herself for letting it get to her like that, but she could understand why. She shook out her feathers, some flying out of the fluffy bunch on her neck.

She really was stressed. 

She blew out the torch in her room and darkness settled in, her eyes were heavy but she couldn't feel an ounce of tired in her body. She huffed quietly, shifting on her cot to face the wall. Somehow, staring at the barely lit dried mud ridge on the wall, analyzing it, picturing how it came to be, calmed her restless mind. The once alert state of her mind and body settled, and disappeared, leaving only sleep in it's wake.

_Viney woke in the middle of a windy, dry patch of snow. Her surroundings were white, the sky was grey, there was no hint of life. Frost stung her face harshly, wiping her cheeks and eyes with sharp pieces of hail and snow. The foggy snow clouds blew in front of her and miles away, marking everything as cold and dead. Her talons were dug into the mounting snow beneath her, piling surprisingly rapidly further and further. She quickly pulled her arms out of the snow, realizing now that she had been on her knees and standing up way too quickly. She slipped and fumbled backwards, falling out of the snow and onto even colder, and harder, ice._

_She slipped against the ice trying to stand up, but noticed that her face was no longer being lashed with hail and snow, although she was still freezing. The cold ran deeper than skin, it ran past her blood and bones and chilled her core. She looked around, everything was calmer now, and the storm had stopped. The sky was now a light, cloudless blue, and the sun beat down on the ice, making it a little more slippery than it needed to be._

_Viney dug her claws into the ice and slowly started to move. She somehow knew were she was, and where she was going. It was like a strange force pulling her forwards, and a forgotten memory telling her that she would be fine, that she knew this place and would be home soon. She looked down, and almost instantly regretted it. Curiosity had dragged her head to look at the ice, to see what what frozen beneath her._

_It would've been beautiful. The ice somehow shone an iridescent turquoise, like the shallows of sea water, shadows of fish held in place as they hibernated for the winter, and the faint, soft yellow of sand and corals. It would have been beautiful if not for the enormous shadowy beast below her, the crude outline of an undersea predator, staring at her with wide, glowing white eyes and daring to break the ice if she took another step forward. She felt unbelievably stuck between a rock and a hard place, if she moved the beast below her would attack, but if she stayed, she would die of hunger and cold._

_She continued to stare at it's menacing white eyes. Frozen, locked in a staring contest with death at all sides daring strike. She then suddenly had the urge to close her eyes, and continue to walk forward. It was like the wind was telling her she would be fine if she'd just close her eyes, and walk. So she ripped her eyes away from the creature and closed them tightly, taking one step forward. Then another step. Then another._

_Suddenly, her foot fell on grass, warm, dewy grass. She quickly snapped open her eyes to see that she was no longer on ice, but rather standing in the middle of a welcoming, jade green grassy field. Roses and marigolds scattered around the green like gentle, colorful faeries. The warmth overpowered the cold she was once feeling and relaxed, she slowly brought herself towards the earth and laid down. The sun itself seemed more welcoming now. She fluttered her wings behind her and sat up, letting them open and stretch in the cozy glow of the midday sun._

_However, laughter cut her basking short, and she turned her head wildly to find the source, only for it to stop in front of a very familiar, hyena face._

Viney woke with a jolt, her eyes snapping open. It wasn't like she was having a nightmare anymore, just the shock of seeing _her_ face had roused her out of sleep. She heard movements among the shadows and assumed she probably woke around early morning, not everyone was up but enough people were for her to get out of bed. 

Aromas filled her nose with the sweet smell of sweet rolls. She promptly hustled out of bed and moved down the hallway, barely any torches were lit but she knew were she was going, it wasn't hard at all, just go towards the light at the end of the tunnel. She moved into the living area of the caves and promptly plopped herself down on a pile of pillows near the fireplace, where an eagle-esque griffin was making some sweet rolls. 

Again, she recognized him and he seemed to recognize her. He smiled and handed her a roll he'd just made. She promptly smiled a silent 'thank you' and took a bite of it, completely melting into joy at the flavor of it. She quickly finished it and the other griffin in the room took that as a compliment, offering her more just as more beasts wandered in tiredly and practically fall onto the pillows, waiting like lazy sheep for the rolls to be handed to them. 

As she handled her second roll, her mind moved towards a couple questions. 

First, what would she be learning today? Second, will she have time to hang out with her friends after school? And third, most importantly, what in the TItan's name was _Emira Blight_ doing in her dream?


End file.
